Crabowitz, June 13th
Come to the 5th annual “Crabowitz” 5K fun run for crabs, pizza, and beer. Rich and Tricia supply crabs and pizza and our Brewmaster Tony BBQ brings the “Rebel Electrolyte Ale”! Any time after 6:00 is good but the 5K run starts around 6:15/6:30 so if you want to run 3.1 hilly miles first, be sure and arrive in time for the start. Running is not required, but cheering is!
Please bring your drink of choice and RSVP (443-309-5138 or ) for the head count. This is a family/dogs friendly event, so bring everyone. Let Rich know if you are a pizza person, crab person, or both.
Donations this year again benefit the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation http://www.bepositive.org/ . We hope to surpass last year’s VERY generous donations of over $2,000!
Looking forward to seeing everyone on the 13th!!
Szymanski House, North Point, 709 Haddon Rd, Wilmington, Delaware 19808
Run with the Summer Concert Series at White Clay
During the summer months, please plan on attending fun runs in White Clay State Park (Carpenter Recreation Area) followed by some relaxation listening to live music while enjoying the company of other PCVRC members. We plan on attending four of the summer concert series:
Wed June 26: Tropical Soul (beach music, original and covers)
Wed July 03: OH BOY! A Tribute to Rockabilly (Buddy Holly, Johnn Cash, Elvis)
Wed July 24: The Vel Crows (Surf rock and good time music)
Wed Aug 14: Almost Fab (Beatles tribute)
We will go for a short run in the park before each concert, more details to follow. For more information on the series please see http://destateparks.com/SummerConcerts/white-clay.asp
Vermont City Marathon 5/26 – Ray’s Recap
(see many photos at http://runmarathonman.com/vermont13.php, and see Dave McCorquodale’s interesting recap at http://mccorq.blogspot.com/2013/05/vermont-citymarathon-one-to-remember.html )
The 25th Anniversary KeyBank Vermont City Marathon was run on a miserably cold, windy and rainy Memorial Day Weekend. It loops in and out of downtown Burlington and along the shores of Lake Champlain. On a nice day, the Adirondack Mountains of New York State form a beautiful backdrop…but this was not a nice day!
With 3,000 marathoners, 800 2-person relay teams, and 700 3-5 person relay teams, it’s a good-sized event, with lots of enthusiastic spectators. Dave McCorquodale drove up with me, to continue his string of lots of marathons. Lee Kauffman did a Half and took photos. Tom Jermyn was in the area to cheer us on.
Race morning went smoothly as I got up around 5:30 am to start the routine and pack gels and 5-hour energy into my pockets. It was drizzling, with occasional gusts of wind. At 7:15, we started a slow five block walk to the start, stationing my mom and niece at a good corner, where they snapped our official “before” picture. Then Dave and I headed to the porta-potty line where I was shivering before long. Temp in the low 40’s with mainly mist or slight drizzle along with a diminished, but still chilly wind.
Race Start
Got to the corrals in ample time, and of course, it was warmer there, with bodies huddled more closely. I wore light gloves, figuring that whatever I wore would be wet and cold before long. Since the Boston Marathon Bombing was still fresh in everyone’s minds, “Boston Strong” was one of the underlying themes for the event and we got to start the race to “Sweet Caroline”. As it turned out, I stayed just warm enough throughout the race to be not much more uncomfortable than usual, even though the entire morning was dark and dreary.
Narrow Course
Dave and the course map had prepared me for the rolling hills. We looped in and out of the downtown area a few times. My plan was to stick with the 3:30 pace group and shoot for my first-ever negative split. That didn’t happen. There were actually two 3:30 pacers and I stuck with the slower group for the first couple miles. With thousands of runners, many turns, and water tables that were far too short, I was unhappy with how narrow the course was, partly due to many sections of two-way runner traffic on city streets. Extra concentration was required to avoid tripping over legs or avoiding major puddles, because of the density of our group (yeah, I guess that could mean dense in the head also). I was impressed with the number of loudly cheering spectators!
Race Highlights & Lowlights
In the early miles, I spotted Tom Jermyn (up from Delaware to visit his daughter) encouraging the runners and yelled over to him. Besides missing water a couple times due to the inadequate tables, for a couple miles, we had to dodge small orange traffic cones. Theoretically for our protection from car traffic or sometimes runner traffic, they actually became their own hazard, so along with puddle jumping, fighting gusts of wind, and the many turns, there was an “obstacle course” kind of feel, which required more concentration (increasing mental fatigue).
Lake Champlain & Other Moments
At the end of our first 5k loop, I found my personal cheering crew still stationed at their corner and gave them a shout and a wave. The next out and back section would bring us back downtown at mile nine. That was fun, since we could watch the faster (and later slower) runners on the other side to keep our minds off our own troubles. At 13.1, I had been running solidly with the faster of the 3:30 pacers. Starting at this point, major portions of the course were on (too) narrow bike paths. We’d now get several tastes of the lake, which ordinarily would be course hightlights, but today seemed surreal with spray from waves jumping up to the edge of the path as a solid stream of runners tried to avoid the puddles, holes, and each other while not having hats blown off from the wind. It looked like a gale on stormy seas!
Battery Street Hill
Mile 15 brought us the longest hill of the day, back in town. I plowed through, hanging on to the end of the pace group. Then it was out to suburbia again, along with one very muddy 50 yard stretch through a small park. Glad I wasn’t wearing bright, shiny new shoes. Around mile 19, I hear my name called and turn to see Tom Jermyn driving alongside me in his car, asking how I felt. It made me feel like an elite runner with his on-course support crew. He offered me a dry shirt (but not a ride).
Knocking Down the Miles
The slower 3:30 group dropped me around mile 21 and I started fearing that I could end up as slow as 3:40. This became my minimum goal, with 3:35 my reasonably optimistic goal. Several of the mile-markers had been blown down by the wind. One of my saddest experiences as a runner came just after I passed a blown-down mile 23 marker. Just as I became pumped up with the idea of just 5K to go, a woman who I was overtaking asked me, “Was that mile 25?” I’m pretty sure she was serious, so I felt really bad, telling her that it was 23. As all marathoners know, your mind isn’t always working very well in those late miles, so it’s easy to forget which marker you just passed and start hoping that you missed one (or 2 in her case).
Soggy Finish
Mile 25 is typically one of the best sights ever. “I’m gonna make it!” No issues other than really stiff legs. We came alongside our favorite lake for the final gusts of wind (and even a peep of sunshine, unless that was my mind playing tricks). Big crowds for the last half mile and then the final tenth of a mile is a surprise grass finish – which would be fine if it hadn’t rained over 5 inches over the past couple days. So not the speediest kick to the finish, but I was content with 3:33 and happily gulped down chocolate milk and grabbed a banana.
Celebratory Photos
I quickly found Mom & Kaylin and then Lee & Pat tracked us down. All had seen my home stretch and Lee took a bunch of pictures while I apologized to the ladies for exposing them to the nasty weather conditions for several hours. I was still chilly, and replaced the finisher foil blanket with the jacket that Kaylin had been carrying for me along with my phone and camera. Then, (the horrible son and uncle that I am) I snuck away to grab a few sips of beer in a crowded tent and hit the runner food area for pizza, yogurt, juice & chips. At least I shared the big bag of chips with my team!
Dave Was Cold
We connected with Dave at the family reunion area where he told me that he hadn’t stopped being cold until around mile 22! He wasn’t happy with his time of 4:25, but also realized that it was quite respectable in the conditions, not to mention that he had done a 4:08 just 2 weeks prior at the similarly hilly Delaware Marathon! We took the long, slow walk back to the car as another brief shower fell on us. Nice to enjoy warmth again.
Eat, Drink & Be Warm
Now it was time to eat, since Dave had passed on the long line for food down at Waterfront Park. Just a mile out of town, we found a Denny’s. I changed my shoes outside and changed other clothes inside. No time for shower (and not much need either). Food tasted great and Dave found out that the Denny’s manager had taken in a Kenyan elite runner who knocked on house door around mile 20 since he’d had enough of the nasty, cold conditions! On the way out of the area, I decided we’d stop at Magic Hat Brewery, since I’d seen the sign on the way into town. Mom got a sample and Dave bought a six-pack. He drank a couple as we headed down the road. That cheered him up!
USATF – Grand Prix Series
The USATF Grand Prix spring season ended last weekend with the 29th annual running of the Moorestown 8k. The recent heat wave was in full swing by the 8:30 start time with temperature at 80 degrees and the humidity exceeding 70%. Fortunately the race course has plenty of shaded areas and several sprinkler zones appeared in the neighborhoods on the latter half of the course.
Twelve PCVRC members sweated it out led by new PCVRC team member Katie Dougherty who was the overall female winner. The balance of the top five team Age Graded (AG) scores were provided by Greg Cauller, Dave Wiechecki, Kirsten Belair and race day recruit – Kieran Tuntivate (Yes, Rich is still working to gain PCVRC an edge – Kieran is a Wilmington Charter HS stand out and Lori Culnane’s nephew.)
PCVRC finished the day with 2nd highest team AG score. We achieved a team total of 403.327, close behind South Jersey RC’s 407.679.
Entering into the summer break, PCVRC is currently in 2nd place in the series. Awesome running!
Thanks to everyone who has supported and participated in the series this spring. We’ll return to the roads in October with the DDC 15k.
CLUB – – – – – – – ADR-ROD Combined – VFR – BRD – MOR – TOTAL (all races) – AVG
Bryn Mawr Running Club 435.043 408.914 432.608 402.954 1679.519 419.880
PCVRC – – – – – – – – – – – – 435.986 402.194 390.549 403.326 1632.055 408.014
Greater Phila Track Club 423.548 392.079 421.092 383.404 1620.124 405.031
South Jersey A.C. – – – – – 419.671 363.499 424.029 407.679 1614.878 403.720
Downingtown Running Club 394.156 378.529 405.269 371.746 1549.700 387.425
Pineland Striders – – – – – – 367.292 357.712 375.248 359.752 1460.003 365.001
Athena – – – – – – – – – – – – – 426.729 422.057 435.218 —– 1284.004 428.001
Keystone Track Club – – – 408.184 393.049 421.682 —– 1222.915 407.638
Moorestown Dist Running Proj 367.439 —– 398.879 372.236 1138.555 379.518
TNT International Racing Club 386.992 348.957 —– 374.882 1110.831 370.277
Rosemont Running Club – – —– —– 375.507 375.507 375.507
Philadelphia Masters – – – —– —– 353.871 353.871 353.871
Individual Moorestown results:
Cauller Gregory 29 50 83.240
Tuntivate Kieran 27 33 81.67
Dougherty Katie 29 42 81.201
Wiechecki David 30 33 79.978
Belair Kirsten 32 13 77.237
Team Score – – – – – 403.327
Feole Carole 37 25 76.704
Kauffman William Lee 33 14 75.978
Steenkamer Thomas 33 31 74.739
Sweigart Dirk 33 60 73.039
Herrmann Sheri 38 20 66.261
Szymanski Richard 39 35 60.253
Herman Gerald 49 56 57.343